Full Truck Alliance Co. Ltd. (NYSE:YMM) shares have had a really impressive month, gaining 28% after a shaky period beforehand. Looking back a bit further, it's encouraging to see the stock is up 34% in the last year.

After such a large jump in price, given around half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 18x, you may consider Full Truck Alliance as a stock to potentially avoid with its 26.2x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Recent times have been pleasing for Full Truck Alliance as its earnings have risen in spite of the market's earnings going into reverse. The P/E is probably high because investors think the company will continue to navigate the broader market headwinds better than most. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

How Is Full Truck Alliance's Growth Trending?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Full Truck Alliance would need to produce impressive growth in excess of the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 65% gain to the company's bottom line. Although, its longer-term performance hasn't been as strong with three-year EPS growth being relatively non-existent overall. Therefore, it's fair to say that earnings growth has been inconsistent recently for the company.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 30% per year during the coming three years according to the eleven analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 10% each year, which is noticeably less attractive.

In light of this, it's understandable that Full Truck Alliance's P/E sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

The Key Takeaway

The large bounce in Full Truck Alliance's shares has lifted the company's P/E to a fairly high level. While the price-to-earnings ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of earnings expectations.

We've established that Full Truck Alliance maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

It's always necessary to consider the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Full Truck Alliance, and understanding should be part of your investment process.

You might be able to find a better investment than Full Truck Alliance. If you want a selection of possible candidates, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.